TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 (est.) · 字
別
別 ＝ 冎 ＋ 刂
ㄅㄧㄝˊ · bié
verb — to separate, part; adj — other; adv — don't
字源 FORM — what the parts do
冎義a jointed bone, the flesh pared offworn to the modern left side 叧
刂義a knife
A knife (刂) works along a bone (冎, worn to the modern left side) — paring the flesh away. Together they write cutting apart; everything separated follows: 分別、離別、別的. The "don't" of 別去 is 不要 said fast — the fused sound borrowed this graph.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
案板上，刀（刂）順著骨縫一劃——肉一邊，骨一邊。
On the board the knife (刂) runs the seam of the bone — meat one way, bone the other.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)分開— to cut apart, separate
→分別、離別— to part; difference
⇒別的、別人— other — the separated-off one常用
(假借)別走、別說— don't — 不要 fused into one syllable常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension